Report: ALP Forward too close to shore when rig grounded

Report: ALP Forward too close to shore when rig grounded

The tug which was towing the "Transocean Winner" when she ran aground at Dalmore Beach on Lewis during a fierce storm on Aug 8, 2016, was sailing too close to land and the line that broke off was in poor condition, an official report has found. It was incapable of controlling the tow in the high winds and seas experienced. The master had chosen a route that was too close to land and did not allow room for the vessels to drift once the line had broken. The rig was being towed from Norway to Malta from where it was to be moved to a yard in Turkey for scrapping, when it broke free from a tug in a storm and was blown on to the shore. The rig grounded with 280 tonnes of diesel on board and two of its four fuel tanks were damaged in the incident, resulting in the loss of up to 53,000 litres of fuel into the sea. The remaining 200 tonnes of hydrocarbons, mainly diesel oil with small amounts of base oil and brine, were eventually transferred from the rig to a supply vessel. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch report said the "ALP Forward" struggled with the conditions it encountered and it criticised the route chosen because it was so close to land. Planning a passage so close to the coastline left limited sea room for the tug and tow to drift in bad conditions. The voyage planning concentrated on significant wave heights and did not consider the effect of high winds on the "Transocean Winner". By the time the master of the "ALP Forward" realised that the tug and tow would not pass clear of the worsening weather, he had insufficient sea room to wait for it to pass. In his attempts to maintain control of the tow the master placed sufficient strain on the tow line to cause damage, which ultimately led to its failure. It is possible waves reached more than 55 feet with winds gusting up to 59 knots. At the height of the conditions - and the length of the tow line at time - the tension on the line may have been increased three times leading to the tug and tow being taken backwards at up to 4.7kts. In the prevailing conditions, once the tow line had parted there was no possible recovery of the rig, and the grounding was inevitable. The report also ruled out that the Coastguard Emergency tug "Herakles" would have made any difference if it had been positioned closer to the scene. It was situated in Kirkwall, Orkney which is 12 hours from Lewis, and local politicians have been calling for the re-instatement of a second ETV in the Minch, which was previously axed by the UK Government. But the report found that it could not have prevented the rig grounding even it was on the scene within minutes as it has a weaker tow strength than the "ALP Forward". Had the "Herakles" been on scene from the point at which the "ALP Forward" began to be pulled astern, it seemed very unlikely that it would have been able to provide any practical assistance in maintaining control of Transocean Winner, given the severe weather conditions and the nature of the emergency towage arrangements. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency was recently paid around £400,000 of its bill for the operation. Its costs come on top of almost £17m known to be spent so far recovering the "Transocean Winner". The likely final bill for accident was expected to be more than £20m. (3 hours ago, by Timsen )